Shifting perceptions, preferences and practices in the African fruit trade: the case of African plum (Dacryodes edulis) in different cultural and urbanization contexts in Cameroon

Abstract

Background Understanding the perceptions, preferences and management practices associated with intraspecific variability of emblematic African tree crops is critical for their sustainable management. In this paper, we examine how the agrobiodiversity of a fruit tree species native to Central Africa, the African plum tree (Dacryodes edulis), is perceived and managed by Cameroonian cultivators. Methods Semi-structured interviews and tree surveys were conducted over four months with 441 African plum tree owners from three different ethnic groups (Bamileke, Bassa, Beti) in urban, peri-urban and rural areas. Questions focused on trees owners’ perceptions—including the local nomenclature—preferences and management practices related to African plum trees and their intraspecific agrobiodiversity. Results Across the three ethnic groups in the study area, more than 300 different local varietal names were recorded. These were mainly based on morphological and organoleptic traits, with two-thirds of the names referring to fruit size, skin color and fruit taste. The same traits were used by tree owners to describe their fruit preferences, but their relative importance in shaping fruit preferences varied among groups. The preferences of urban dwellers from different ethnic groups when purchasing African plum fruit focused on the fruit’s taste characteristics, while those of rural dwellers differed among ethnic groups. In rural areas, where African plums are sold and consumed by their growers, the preferences of Bassa consumers reflect quantity (fruit size) over quality (fruit taste or skin color) considerations. These preferences are reflected in the choice of seeds used for planting. Bassa owners sought seeds from trees with large fruits (with 34.8% of Bassa owners giving top priority to this trait as a selection criterion) to a significantly greater extent than Bamileke and Beti owners who prioritized taste and skin color instead. Among tree growers who selectively retained African plum trees in their fields, 44% considered tree productivity as a primary selection criterion. Conclusions Findings linking perceptions of and preferences for fruit traits to intraspecific tree diversity, with attention to inter-ethnic and rural–urban differences, will help design locally specific measures to conserve the agrobiodiversity of African plum in the context of its ongoing domestication.

Domestication Syndrome in Dacryodes edulis (Burseraceae): Comparison of Morphological and Biochemical Traits between Wild and Cultivated Populations

“…Fruits’ morphology is one of the main traits of interest to farmers and consumers. It has been demonstrated that a large variation in shape, size, color and taste of the fruits exist in cultivation, as observed in our study and as already observed in previous studies [ 25 , 27 ] based on a larger sample size. The results obtained here support the hypothesis that the observed variation could be by human practices, with overall a tendency to select mostly individuals with bigger fruits.…”

“…Besides the size and the lipid content of the fruits, their taste is one of the main characters under selection. The fruits of cultivated D. edulis presented a great variation in sourness, and consumers’ preferences is usually for non-sour fruits [ 25 ]. The same variation seemed to exist in wild fruits (data not shown).…”

“…Previous studies on its floral biology indicated that male, female or hermaphrodite flowers are in no particular arrangement and in varying proportions from one inflorescence (measuring 15–40 cm) to the other, from one year to the other and from one tree to the other [ 21 ]. Some research works have been conducted on the reproductive system of D. edulis [ 22 , 23 ], the characterization of its fruits and seeds as well as their oil content/fatty acids composition [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ], but focusing only on cultivated populations of the species.…”

The Future of Food: Domestication and Commercialization of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa over the Third Decade (2012–2021)

“…Significant progress has been made during the third decade in the intraspecific characterization of Dacryodes edulis in Cameroon and Gabon [242,245,246,[291][292][293][294]; Irvingia spp. in Benin and Nigeria [233,[295][296][297]; G. kola in Nigeria [298][299][300][301][302], Cote d'Ivoire [303] and Benin [244,304,305]; Cola spp.…”

“…Furthermore. perceptions of and preferences for fruit traits linked to intraspecifc tree diversity vary according to interethnic and rural-urban differences, which need to be considered in future domestication activities [246].…”